Sir Nicholas Winton, known as the British Schindler after he rescued 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia, has been honoured with the unveiling of a life-size statue of himself.

Sir Nicholas, who is 101, attended the unveiling of the bronze statue, created by sculptor Lydia Karpinska, on the Reading-bound platform at Maidenhead railway station at the weekend.

On the eve of the Second World War, Sir Nicholas began an operation, later known as the Czech Kindertransport, by helping the children escape German-occupied Czechoslovakia and arranging for their safe passage to Britain.

The organisers of a Jewish-run ship which aims to break Israel's naval blockade claim the boat will sail by the end of this month.

The ship, which has been co-ordinated by the British Jews for Justice for Palestinians and European Jews for a Just Peace, will have four crew members and eight other Jewish passengers, including Israeli Holocaust survivor Reuven Moskovitz, and British JfJfP activist Alison Prager.

British sailor Glyn Secker of JfJfP will captain the ship. He said it would show that "not all Jews support Israel and say emphatically: not in our name".

The British branch of the Israeli ambulance charity, which is also part of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is urging supporters to sign a petition calling on Hamas, under the Third Geneva Convention, to allow the Red Cross to visit Sergeant Shalit.

Almost 11,000 have so far signed the petition, addressed to Tony Blair in his capacity as Quartet representative.

An advertisement for women's underwear placed next to a shop selling equipment for Succot in Edgware, north-west London, is to be replaced.

The hoarding showed a scantily-clad woman advertising underwear for Marks &Spencer and was situated directly above an outlet of a temporary Sukkah Mart store, at the corner of Edgwarebury Lane and Station Road.

Na'ama Heller, the shop's manager, said: "We opened last week and the advertisement appeared over the weekend right next to the shop.